The return of two of The Walking Dead universe’s signature characters gave the latest spinoff in the franchise a ratings jolt.
The premiere of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live — which features the returns of Andrew Lincoln’s Rick and Danai Gurira’s Michonne — delivered 3 million viewers (inclusive of replays and simulcasts) over three days for AMC. That’s the best series debut performance on the cable network in almost six years (since The Terror in March 2018, which had the then-dominant Walking Dead flagship as a lead-in).
AMC doesn’t share data for its AMC+ streaming platform (in keeping with the m.o. for most streamers), but the company says The Ones Who Live premiere was the most watched episode of any show on the service. AMC also says the Feb. 25 debut drew more AMC+ viewing in two days than any other season premiere had in a full week, and that Sunday was the biggest day for direct-to-consumer signups since AMC+ launched.
“On Sunday, we had an incredible reunion of TWD giants: Rick and Michonne — and the fans of The Walking Dead, both old and new,” The Ones Who Live showrunner and Walking Dead franchise creative head Scott M. Gimple said in a statement. “Danai and Andy’s mind-blowing work in front of and behind the camera, along with the efforts of a truly wonderful cast and crew was all for an audience we asked to believe just a little bit longer. We’re grateful they did.”
The Ones Who Live had 896,000 same-day viewers on AMC, coming in higher than either of the most recent two Walking Dead spinoffs, Dead City (704,000 viewers) and Daryl Dixon (631,000). Simulcasts on AMC’s sibling channels WE and BBC America added 207,000 more viewers (the show also aired on IFC and Sundance TV, but figures for those two weren’t immediately available). More than 60 percent of the premiere’s three-day audience, as measured by Nielsen, came after the initial airing.
Gimple, Lincoln and Gurira executive produce The Ones Who Live with Denise Huth, Brian Bockrath and Greg Nicotero.
